Gulf's biggest bank by assets, #Qatar National Bank's H1 net profit up 7%

Gulf's biggest bank by assets, Qatar National Bank's H1 net profit up 7%

Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf's biggest bank by assets, on Monday reported a 7% year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit for the six months ended 30 June 2024 to 8.2 billion Qatari riyals ($2.2 billion).

Operating income was up 9% on year at QAR 20.1 billion, the lender said in a statement on the Qatar Stock Exchange.

Total assets reached QAR 1.26 billion ($346 billion), an increase of 5% from the year-ago period mainly driven by good growth in loans and advances by 7% to reach QAR 879 billion.

"Diversified customer deposits generation helped to increase customer deposits by 6% to reach QAR 891 billion from 30 June 2023," the bank said.

QNB’s loans to deposits ratio stood at 98.7% as at 30 June 2024.

Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as of the end of the period was 19.2%; cost to income ratio stood at 22.4%.

The lender's board has proposed an interim cash dividend distribution of 33% or QAR 0.33 per share, the bank's first ever interim dividend. The proposed interim cash dividend distribution is subject to approval by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB).